When you're gone
by Ikasashimi
Summary: AU. Sakura and Tomoyo have been best friends for years. Now in High School they've started to drift apart. What will happen now when they realize just how far they've drifted?


Ikasashimi: Hey everybody! I know it's been a while before I posted or updated and I'd like to apologize for that. I've been busy and my mind won't let me concentrate on one story :D So here I am with another story I wrote for a project in school :D It's for our Christian Living class and is supposed to be a parable about forgiveness. I know it's short, but I hope you guys like it.

Now on with the story! :D

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It was a hot day in summer when Sakura had decided to play outside. Her mother had bought her a new ball to play with. It was pink (her favourite color) with yellow polka-dots. She was playing in the front garden, where there was shade, when she accidentally threw her ball too hard. She had thrown it over her fence and across the road.

As she walked across to get the ball, she could feel the pride swelling up in her chest. She had just thrown the ball higher than she ever could, and that was enough to bring a grin to her face. As she bent down to pick up the ball, she heard someone shout "Look out!" Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was knocked to the ground. On top of her was a beagle, panting from running. A girl, about her age, ran towards them shouting "Patch! Get off!" The beagle looked at its master and obeyed, but not without licking Sakura in the face first. The girl, who was panting from chasing after her dog, approached Sakura with a sheepish smile on her face and extended her hand. "I'm sorry about what my dog did. He can't control himself when he sees a ball" She continued to apologize as she helped Sakura stand up. When Sakura had already dusted all the dirt off her clothes she and the girl looked at each other and laughed. They both kept laughing until their sides ached. "By the way, I'm Tomoyo" said the girl, her face still pink from laughing so hard. "My name's Sakura" replied Sakura, still grinning from ear to ear. That event had brought them together and soon they had become the best of friends...

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Of course that was 7 years ago. Sakura and Tomoyo were 6 then and are 13 years old now, but they are still the best of friends. They both went to the same school and were always in the same class, but that was only because their school was so small. But then when they moved to high school, things started to change...

On their first year as high school students they discovered that they weren't classmates and to make things worse their rooms were 4 classrooms apart. On their first day, they vowed to stay the best of friends and the thought that things could change never occurred to them.

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After a few months, they stopped eating with each other during their breaks and hardly called each other after dinner, which was one of their traditions for those 7 years that they had been friends. Sakura started hanging out with other people and the same happened to Tomoyo. They always considered each other best friends, but they weren't as close as they used to be and they were becoming distant from each other.

It was during one of their breaks when Sakura noticed that Tomoyo was never in her usual place anymore. After some thinking she decided to ask one of Tomoyo's friends what had happened to her. She never expected to hear those 2 treacherous words escape their lips, as she asked them about Tomoyo.

"She left"

Just like that, Tomoyo had left to study at another school abroad. Sakura felt betrayed. One of her best friends had left and didn't even inform her. She could feel the tears stinging her eyes as she ran towards the girl's bathroom. She always went there whenever she felt bad and needed to cry, but during those times Tomoyo was there to comfort her and now...she was all alone.

She cried her heart out that day and was excused from classes. She didn't come back for 2 days and her friends were worried about her. They tried to call her, but her father told them that Sakura wouldn't be seeing anyone. Many thought she would commit suicide or something like that, some thought she was over-reacting, and the others just didn't care.

Sakura had locked herself in her room, refusing to eat, except for when she was really hungry. She mostly moped about or lay on her bed thinking Why did she leave? Why didn't she tell me? What happened to us being best friends?" or "Did I do something wrong?" These questions popped into her mind many times; however she could not answer them. Maybe she didn't know how to answer them, or maybe she was scared. She could have been afraid about finding the answer, knowing that somehow she had contributed in the great distance in their friendship. Right after, she realized that the reason she stopped telling her things, stopped calling her, and stopped eating with her during their breaks was because they had drifted apart. Suddenly her anger flared up, as if someone had thrown gasoline into the flame. "She left me and betrayed me!" Tears of anger rushed down her face as she struggled to control her emotions. She continued to cry, until she fell asleep. But even in la la land she could not rest peacefully. She was restless, because she had dreamed about all the possibilities of their sudden distance and many of them didn't have a happy ending.

She went back to school and tried to act like nothing happened, but everyone could see the change. She wasn't as perky as she was before and she had a short temper. But through all this, no one said anything; they knew why she was like this, although they couldn't understand what she was going through.

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A Year Later

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Not much changed in Sakura's school. The teachers were the same, the students were as rowdy as ever and Tomoyo was still gone.

Sakura could not find it in her heart to forgive Tomoyo. She had left and Sakura was still mad. The feeling of betrayal had never left her heart and the wound she had created on Sakura's heart never healed, even after a year. That day was like any other. The sky was bright and the sun was shining as Sakura went through her usual routine.

She had arrived at school early and was already seated when everyone came inside. As she observed the class from her seat, she noticed the teacher come in with a smile on her face. Usually she only smiled like that when she had an announcement. When everyone had settled down, she cleared her throat. "Students, today we welcome a new student to our class. She is from another country, but has come back because she misses her native country." The whole class was buzzing with excitement as the teacher moved to open the door for the new student. "Let me introduce your new classmate, Tomoyo." The noise suddenly died down and everyone was silent as Tomoyo stood in front of them. She had her head bowed low and was taking an interest in staring at the floor, as if there was something so fascinating down there that it required all her attention. Sakura was shocked. Her best friend was back, but she could not distinguish whether she should be happy, angry or sad. Out of confusion she stood up and ran out of the classroom. She ran to her hiding place where she could sort her thoughts, the bathroom. No one went to get her. Everyone knew that she was confused and left her to sort things out. Many avoided that bathroom to give her privacy, except for one, Tomoyo. During their break Tomoyo went to the bathroom to speak to Sakura, but upon arriving there she couldn't find her. It was only after her break that she had learned that Sakura had already gone home.

After school, Tomoyo went to Sakura's house and found her playing with her pink ball with yellow polka-dots. Sakura was too busy playing with the ball to notice Tomoyo standing outside her gate. She was thinking about what to do. "Should I forgive her?" Every time she thought that, a small voice in her head would tell her "Forgive her?! After all she did. How can you even consider that?!" Of course she debated with that little voice, but after a while she couldn't find the will to fight it. Soon it filled her head with negative thoughts. Sakura had learned not to pay attention to it and was soon able to ignore it completely. She had planned to go inside but then as she stood up, she noticed Tomoyo standing outside. She was acting mostly on instinct when she walked into the house and locked the door. She couldn't trust herself to be able to keep it together. One word could have triggered the waterworks. What more could happen if she talked to her? As she fought the battling feelings inside her, which were threatening to escape, Tomoyo was outside on the stairs. She had seen Sakura's face. Her expression.....grief.

Tomoyo knew how much grief she had cause Sakura, yet she could not find the courage or will to confront her. She knew that Sakura had the right to know she was leaving, but because of the distance between them she didn't think (at that time) that Sakura needed to know. Now she regretted that decision....

Sakura had been sitting on the sofa for quite a while, and she was still figuring out what to do. Questions and decisions would bounce back and forth around her mind as she struggled to find a conclusion. When she couldn't, she prayed. She prayed long and hard to find the right answer. Little did she know that at the exact same time, Tomoyo was also praying. Both girls prayed for guidance on what to do and they both got what they wanted. At that moment Sakura's dog had gotten loose. Her dog had run outside towards the place where Tomoyo was seated. Obviously, Sakura ran after her dog and ended up outside.

As Sakura went outside she saw Tomoyo, who was seated on the stairs. She had instantly forgotten about her dog and had planned to run inside when Tomoyo lifted her head. They looked at each other for a while, until they both decided to end this, and to get all the answers to their questions.

"I'm sorry!" They both exclaimed at the same time. Realizing what they did they couldn't help but smile.

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They argued at first and soon it got softer and softer. They talked for a while, trying to make up. There was crying and a lot of hugging, and they had practically spent an hour of their lives trying to make amends, but they didn't care. They were finally talking to each other after such a long time and in no time at all they had forgiven each other. It was almost as if they had never fought in the first place. There were still scars, but as time passes those scars would disappear little by little.

As they were talking, Tomoyo noticed the ball Sakura had previously been playing with on the side. " I love that ball. It brings back great memories." Sakura smiled "Ya...it's the reason we became friends in the first place." Then Sakura's smile turned from a content one to a mischievous one. She grabbed the ball and ran. Soon they were playing like they did 7 years ago, feeling like they were 6 all over again.

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It was late when Tomoyo left. They had both promised to fix everything the next day. Sakura had gone inside and left the ball on the table. She stared at it for a moment, and closed her eyes. She recalled all the times they had used that small ball, and how much fun they had with it. She sighed in content and she picked up the ball and hugged it. This ball would bring back memories from their childhood and now it would bring back memories of their trials and conflicts as teenagers and how they finally learned to forgive...

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Ikasashimi: I'm sorry if it seemed cliché, but it was the theme of the story :D Anyway, any reviews, comments, or suggestions are welcome.

Sakura: But no flames please *Grin*

Ikasashimi: I might post a few more short stories. I think there are 2... Anyway. thanks to all those who have been reading my stories. I really appreciate it. You're reviews and comments give me inspiration. :) Well, until next time. Ja ne!

-Ikasashimi

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